India and Pakistan played in a total of 15 ODIs in three years in Toronto from 1996 to 1998 which was part of the ICC’s plan to take cricket to the masses in North America.
Follow Us
Before the advent of the Global T20 League and Twenty20 Internationals in general, cricket action in Canada was very limited. The oldest rivalry in world cricket goes back to 1854 which involved a match between Canada and the USA. The fact that Canada did not build upon that old rivalry and let cricket stagnate meant that it was not a popular sport. Over the subsequent decades and the new century, American sports like Baseball, NBA as well as the sport of Ice Hockey dominated the sporting landscape. Cricket was being played but by ex-pats from countries like India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.
However, in the mid-90s, the ICC decided to get cricket back into the mainstream in Northern America. They decided that a series between India and Pakistan would be played at the beautiful Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club. Sahara came on board as the main title sponsor and thus the ‘Sahara Friendship Series’ was born. The ICC wanted to capitalize on the high-voltage rivalry between India and Pakistan. With a lot of Indian and Pakistan ex-pats in Canada, they deemed this series to be the launchpad for cricket to enter North America.
Prior to 1996, India and Pakistan did not play any bilateral series together. Their first meeting in an ICC event came in the 1992 World Cup. Their last bilateral series meeting was in 1989 when Pakistan won the three-match series 2-0. After that, they played in multi-lateral tournaments due to political tensions between both countries.
The first match in the Sahara Friendship Cup was played on September 16, 1996. For all the initial build-up, less than 800 people came to the Toronto Cricket, Skating, and Curling club ground. After rain reduced the match to a 33-overs-per-side match, India chose to bowl and they made a great start. Javagal Srinath and Anil Kumble took three wickets apiece. Saeed Anwar was the top-scorer with 46 as Pakistan folded for 170/9.
Chasing 171, Sachin Tendulkar put on a magnificent exhibition of batting. He blunted the likes of Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, and Saqlain Mushtaq brilliantly as he blasted 89 off 89 balls. The knock included nine fours and three sixes. He shared a 90-run stand with Rahul Dravid who hit 39. Tendulkar got good support from skipper Mohammad Azharuddin as India coasted to an easy win.
In the second ODI, Rahul Dravid and Azharuddin shared a record 161-run stand for the third wicket which was a record for India against Pakistan. Dravid smashed 90 and Azharuddin responded with 88 as India finished on 264/6. But, Pakistan was once again boosted by the brilliance of Anwar and Saleem Malik. Anwar blasted 80 off 78 balls with six fours and three sixes. But, when wickets were starting to tumble, Malik guided Pakistan over the line with a brilliant 70 off 81 balls as Pakistan won by two wickets.
The third match was a low-scoring thriller. Rahul Dravid top-scored with 46 and there was vital support from Azharuddin, Vinod Kambli, Sunil Joshi, and Ajay Jadeja as India ended on 191. Kumble took 4/12 in a superb spell as India won by 55 runs to take a 2-1 lead in the series. But, Pakistan bounced back brilliantly in the last two games. In the fourth game, Ijaz Ahmed hit 90 to help Pakistan reach 258/8. Two wickets from Wasim, Waqar and three from Saqlain gave Pakistan a massive 97-run win.
The final match had everything on the line. Pakistan was restricted to 213/9 with Kumble taking 3/47. But, a brilliant spell from Mushtaq Ahmed saw him take 5/36 as Pakistan won the match by 52 runs and the series 3-2. Kumble was the leading wicket-taker in the series with 13 wickets but India’s bad luck against Pakistan continued.
The 1997 series between India and Pakistan saw the emergence of three superstars in the Indian team. Debasis Mohanty, Harvinder Singh, and Sourav Ganguly all excelled in the series. In fact, Ganguly dominated the entire series, scoring 222 runs and taking 15 wickets. This included a haul of 5/16 in the third ODI. Mohanty, on the other hand, made it a point to dismiss Pakistan’s ace batsman Saeed Anwar for most of the series.
Harvinder was economical and this inexperienced bowling attack helped India win a bilateral series against Pakistan after 14 years. But, the 1997 series was marred by an ugly incident when Inzamam-ul-Haq tried to attack a fan. After getting constant chants of ‘Aloo’ from the fan, Inzamam became furious and swung a bat at Shiv Kumar Thind, the fan who was sledging Inzamam.
After a 40-minute delay, the match proceeded ahead. However, the repercussions lingered for a long time, with criticism aimed at the ICC for not doing enough to stop such kind of fan behavior.
In 1998, Pakistan got their revenge on India as they defeated them 4-1. After India won the first match, Pakistan was boosted by the batting of Inzamam, Aamer Sohail, and Shahid Afridi to totally dominate. However, the Kargil War in 1999 saw cricket relations between India and Pakistan end. India played the West Indies and won the series 2-1. But, that was the last time India and Pakistan played cricket in Toronto. Overall, Pakistan won the 15-match series 8-7.
